Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton face off in first leaders’ debate
The winner of the first debate of the 2025 federal election has been revealed.
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Anthony Albanese has been crowned the winner of the first election debate.
The Prime Minister and Peter Dutton traded barbs while answering questions from 100 undecided voters at the Sky News/Daily Telegraph People’s Forum on Tuesday night.
Mr Albanese was awarded 44 out of 100 votes compared with 35 for the Opposition Leader.
Tellingly, 21 of the voters in the audience left Tuesday night’s debate undecided on who they would vote for.
The debate was marred by news Mr Dutton’s father had reportedly suffered a heart attack.
He was taken to hospital and as of 9pm was in a stable condition.
LNP's awkward tweet
About half an hour after Mr Albanese was declared the winner by host Kieran Gilbert, the Liberal National Party – the Queensland branch of the Coalition — congratulated Mr Dutton.
Published shortly after the debate ended, the post on X congratulated the Opposition Leader for supposedly winning the debate, with a picture of a triumphant-looking Mr Dutton against a Liberal blue background.
Commenters were quick to point out that Mr Dutton did not, in fact, win the debate, with satirical account Toilet Paper Australia sharing a photo of the results with the caption “when I lie”.
“You grabbed the wrong graphic,” said one user.
“Peter Dutton was tonight’s debate winner the same way Amelia Hamer is an aspiring property owner,” said another.
The National Party of Australia seemingly made the same mistake on Tuesday.
The party’s Facebook account published a photo after the broadcast congratulating Mr Dutton for being “Winner of the debate”.
“Tonight, Peter Dutton showed why under his leadership, a Liberal-National Coalition government will get Australia back on track,” a caption to the post stated.
‘Hurts our brand’: Dutton lashed by voter
Mr Dutton has been scolded by a voter for his response to a question on immigration, with the man accusing the Liberal leader of “hurting Australia’s brand”.
The third question of the night came from Jason who expressed “concern” with the Liberal Party’s position on immigration and students, students from overseas.
“How will those universities pick up the shortfall and will my son’s uni fees increase?” he asked.
While Mr Dutton said the government needed to restrict student numbers to help the housing crisis, and reduce demand and pressures on domestic students, Jason pushed back.
“Our way of life is sharing our way of life with the rest of the world, so part of our humanity is doing good, and so us training other people from all around the world gives them an open opportunity to witness our Australian and so by not allowing those students to come to Australia,” he said.
“By not allowing those students to come to Australia it hurts our brand worldwide”.
On immigration, Mr Albanese said the population was lower than what was projected in 2019 and had fallen by 31 per cent this year, and spruiked proposed caps on student numbers which were shot down by the Coalition and Greens.
“We want a reasonable cap that protects the universities because their funding levels are connected with this (and) that makes sure, though, that we get that balance right on unhousing,” the PM said.
“We’ve got a $33 billion homes for Australia plan that has seen, in part, 28,000 social housing units either under construction or in planning, as we speak, right today.
“There’s been 400,000 homes built, homes or units built since we came to office, we’re going to target of 1.2 million.
“We do need to do more to build housing, but that is what we are doing.
“The former government didn’t even have a Housing Minister for some of the time that they were in office.
Dutton ends with Labor’s failures, promise of safety
Mr Dutton finished the debate with a throwback to his opening statement.
He lashed Mr Albanese for stating that the three years under Labor were a success – reiterating a key Coalition attack line.
“When the Prime Minister says that this has been a successful three-year period, it’s just in defiance of the reality of people’s lives and where we are as a country right now. We face incredibly difficult times,” he said.
“Not just because of what’s coming out of the US at the moment, and the tariff debate with China and whatever the retaliation might be from other countries as well.”
He said a Coalition government would be the “better economic manager,” and would guide Australia out of inflation.
Mr Dutton finished his conclusion referencing the possibility of a recession following Mr Trump’s tariff war.
”We don’t need a Labor Greens minority government after the election, given the headwinds that we’re seeing at the moment, the Treasurer today was in panic mode talking about the prospect of recession next month, which is a disaster for our economy,” he said.
“It shows that Labor just doesn’t know how to manage money or the economy.”
Albo ends with warning of cuts
The Prime Minister used his closing statement to cast further doubt on the truthfulness of Mr Dutton’s pledges, and slammed the Coalition’s flip-flopping of recent days.
“Peter said that there’d be no cuts to health,” Mr Albanese said.
“But they said that last time, when they came into office in 2013.
“They said there’d be no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no cuts to the ABC.
“And, the truth is that they ripped into education, they ripped into health.
“Now, if you have a $600 billion nuclear plan, you’ve got to make cuts.
“The money has to come from somewhere.”
Mr Albanese claimed his government had been a responsible one, that had delivered two budget surpluses and was providing cost of living support “when it’s needed”.
“But, there’s more to do to build on the foundations to build a stronger future,” he said.
“I know that in this uncertain time with what’s going on in the world, now’s not the time to make cuts, to have the sort of policies that we’ve seen in the last week, where they’ve chopped and changed what it will be before the election.
“So how can you believe what they do after the election?”
‘Lies stop here’: Dutton hits back on WFH call
Peter Dutton again reiterated that it was never the Coalition’s policy that work from home amendments would affect “every workplace”, and instead just the Canberra APS.
The Coalition’s backflip on WFH and APS cuts have been a major talking point for the Prime Minister in recent days, who has capitalised on polls projecting it was unpopular among women.
“What we’ve seen is that if there is an arrangement that you’ve got in your workplace, your boss, and you can work from home, or whatever the arrangements are, that’s fantastic.
“That’s a decision between you and your employer in your workplace, and there’s no issue. We’ve never had any issue with that whatsoever.
“Our argument in relation to Canberra was that we wanted to make sure … (is) that taxpayers who are working hard providing their taxes to the Commonwealth government, that that money is being spent in the most efficient way.
“The government’s increased the public service in Canberra by about 20 per cent and we want to make sure that we have flexible arrangements in place.
“Hopefully that lie stops here.”
In response, Mr Albanese accused Mr Dutton of not having “been able to stand up for his own policy, so I don’t know how he can stand up for Australia.
“Working from home is a really important component in modern families.
“The truth is that every public servant isn’t in Canberra, they’re all around Australia, helping people in Centrelink offices, around here, helping people with assistance right around the entire country.”
Grandmother’s fear on foreign ownership
Janine, 74, asked when foreign owners – including “students” – would be limited from buying into the country’s housing market, and purchasing farming land.
“I worked very hard in my life, okay?” she said.
“My future? Not worried about it. My children’s and my grandchildren’s future – I worry about that.
“Australia belongs to Australians, and therefore our land remains Australian.”
In his response, Mr Dutton spruiked a bipartisan two-year moratorium on foreign-based purchases.
“We’re a small nation, 27 million people, and we produce more than we can consume in our country,” Mr Dutton said.
“Talk to our farmers or talk to our manufacturers, we want to open up markets and export, and we want to trade with the world, and that’s always been the case.
“And, so in relation to land, that is part of that discussion.
“People want to invest in our country. We have limits in relation to purchases being made.”
Answering the same question, Mr Albanese spruiked pre-sale conditions on unit development.
“If they don’t get the pre-sales, they don’t get the finance, and the department block of 200 units doesn’t get built,” he said.
“So what we didn’t want to do, was pay out some of those pre-sales, and a portion of some of those pre-sales will be to foreign students, for example, but it allows that project to get up and running, and it allows those 200 units to come onto the market.”
Dutton grilled on keeping discussion on migrants ‘respectful’
Mr Dutton is thrown another tough question from Ria, who asked how the Liberal Leader would “ensure migration discussions remain respectful and avoid demonising migrants”.
His answer acknowledged that Australia was a “great country” because of our migrant story,” however he said there needed to be a “more managed” migration program to reduce the impact on health, infrastructure and education.
“So if we’ve had a 65 per cent increase, and if the government’s going to bring in a population bigger than Adelaide over a five-year period and take money out of infrastructure at the same time, it’s going to have an impact,” he said.
Dutton says Albo ‘dishonest’ on nuclear plan
Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese have clashed on the price of Labor’s renewables plan compared to the Coalition’s nuclear policy.
The Coalition has consistently claimed it’s energy plan, which includes nuclear and increases in gas production, is 44 per cent cheaper than Labor’s renewables dominated grid.
“Now the Prime Minister and (Energy Minister) Chris Bowen have never disputed that figure,” he said.
“There are 29 nuclear reactors being built in China at the moment, the United Kingdom Labor Government has just announced that they can’t achieve net zero by 2050 without patting down on the approval times for small modular reactors and nuclear in those systems.”
Mr Dutton also said the Coalition’s push to boost gas production would by “transformational for our economy” and criticised Labor for opposing it.
Mr Albanese disagreed, and shared the lukewarm zinger: “The only gas policy that the Coalition has is the gaslighting of the Australian public”.
It received a few laughs from the room.
Mr Albanese said if the nuclear policy was popular, it would have more private investment.
“If the nuclear plan stacked up, the private sector would invest in it, but everyone who looks at it says it’s the most expensive form of new energy,” he said.
‘Hurting now’: Albo pushed for fuel excise
The PM was asked by a Sydney truckie whether he’d match Dutton’s fuel excise pledge.
“To be honest, Mr. Prime Minister, people are hurting now, not in 15 months time,” one audience member said.
But, the Prime Minister was noncommittal.
“We have to make decisions, because we were concerned that is just a temporary measure, just like it happened prior to the 2022 election, it then just disappeared after a period of time,” Mr Albanese said.
“What Peter’s proposing is something that is temporary, that will, of course, because of the nature of it as well, kick in for a period of time, increase the deficit in the short term.
“What we have looked to do is target cost of living measures that put downward pressure on inflation, which is why we have been successful in getting inflation down to 2.4 per cent.
“There’s more work to do, but that’s why we produced two budget surpluses.”
Mr Dutton said the Coalition could continue the fuel excise cut, if needed.
This question was certain to benefit the Coalition, given it’s their policy.
However, Mr Dutton said that not only would Labor’s tax cuts cost $17bn, compared to the Coalition’s $6bn policy, they also created ongoing budget pressures amid forecasted deficits and global economic uncertainty.
“I would just say that if you bake it in and put it as a continuing cost, it continues to compound, because every dollar that Anthony Albanese is spending at the moment is borrowed money, and that has to be paid for,” he said.
He also defended the temporary nature of the tax cuts, and said that this allowed the Coalition to renew them if necessary, comparing them to the Coalition’s Covid measures.
“We renewed them if we thought that the economy still required that and people still needed that support, which is exactly the approach that I want to take,” he said.
Leaders agree on Middle East
Asked about taxpayer funds going to the “genocide in Gaza”, Mr Albanese reiterated calls for a ceasefire and for aid to flow, but said there was no “Australian weaponry involved in what is going on in Gaza”.
“We have made sure as well that Australia has taken, I think, a responsible position of continuing to call for not just the short term issues in terms of cease fire, aid to people in Gaza, the release of hostages, but also our principled stance of a two state solution,” he said.
“I want to see both Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and security side-by-side.”
Mr Albanese acknowledged it had been a “very traumatic period” for people with family in Lebanon, Israel, and in Gaza.
Mr Dutton said he also wanted to see “peace in the Middle East,” but said the actions of Hamas on October 7 should be condemned.
“What we saw when Hamas took hostages and took people into the tunnel network. That was an action which, if it had happened to Australians, there would have been an expectation of our government to react, to send the SAS to make sure that we recovered those people as quickly as possible,” he said.
This was always going to be a difficult question for the Opposition Leader who at one point said the refugees from Gaza should not be allowed into Australia and questioned the security settings taken by the Labor government.
Mr Dutton added that he wanted to ensure Australians could “celebrate their heritage and celebrate their connections to a country of origin” but said that “when you come to our country, it’s about celebrating being Australian, always respecting heritage and culture, but also abiding by our laws”.
”I think what we’ve seen in our society over the course of the last couple of years with fire bombings, with attacks on individuals. It’s completely un-Australian, and it’s not something that I think any of us would accept.”
Education claim sparks ‘scare campaign’ accusation
Education was next on the agenda for the leaders – and the first flashpoint of the night.
After audience member Monica asked if there was any more funding coming for the nation’s public schools, the Prime Minister spruiked full funding for public schools across the country, which had been a key component of the Gonksi Review.
“Put simply every child together for fair funding, so if they fall behind, they can get that assistance. Now, we’ve delivered that in a deal negotiated with every single state and territory in the country,” the PM said.
“$14.6 billion of additional dollars so that every student, whether they’re going to a public school or a private school, can get the funding that they deserve.
“We want to do testing in year one, so if a child falls behind, they can get that specialist, one-on-one, tutoring or small group to make sure that they don’t fall behind.
“Because if you address that really early, then every child can have the opportunity to fulfil their aspirations.”
Mr Albanese claimed $30bn had been “ripped out” of 2013-14 budget for public schools under the then-Coalition government.
Mr Dutton said there “were no cuts” and accused Mr Albanese of launching into a “scare campaign”.
”Now, what the Prime Minister is saying is that the funding didn’t go up by as much as he would want each year, but there was no year where funding was cut from hospitals or from education,” he said, adding that hospital funding also increased during his tenure as health minister.
“That is not a factually correct statement. It’s misleading. It’s designed to scare people, and I think it’s dishonest from a man who wants to be re elected as the prime minister of our country,” he said.
Albo channels Trump in first debate question
US President Donald Trump and his destructive tariffs took centre stage early on in the first leader’s debate of the election campaign.
An audience member named Michael asked how Australia would weather the storm, and what each leaders’ strategy was going forward.
Mr Albanese reiterated his description of the US President’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs as an act of economic “self harm” and appeared to mimic some of the controversial leader’s own rhetoric in telling the audience, “no one else got a better deal”.
“When you impose tariffs, it’s a tax on the country that is imposing it, so Americans will pay more for the goods that they purchase from overseas, and that will have an impact here, because we know that as the world’s largest economy, it’s expected to dampen global economic growth,” the PM said.
“So it does present a challenge, but last Thursday, we were prepared.
“Australia got the best deal of any country on the planet. 10 per cent is 10 per cent more than we would like, but no one got a better deal than us, in part because of the representations that we’ve made.
“But we’re prepared as well. No country is better positioned to take advantage of the trade opportunities.
Mr Albanese said it was important to remember not all trade involved the United States and that “in our region in particular, there will be opportunities for Australia that we want to seize”.
“We’ll continue to negotiate, of course, with the United States, looking for a better deal for Australia, because reciprocal tariffs would, of course, be zero, because we don’t impose a tariffs on US goods,” he said.
Mr Dutton said he believed Australia could “deal with whatever comes our way,” and highlighted his experience as a cabinet minister and member of the National Security Committee during Covid.
He was a bit more tough on Mr Trump’s burgeoning trade war than he had been previously, and said Australia should “stand up against bullies”.
”One of the great things about living in the greatest country in the world is that whatever is thrown at us, the Prime Minister of the day should have the ability and the strength of character to be able to stand up against bullies, against those that would seek to do us harm, to keep our country safe and to make sure that we can make the right economic decisions for our country as well,” he said.
Leaders make opening pitches
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has projected an image of hope and progress in his opening speech to the first leader’s debate in western Sydney.
“The world has thrown a lot of challenges to Australia in the past few years,” Mr Albanese said.
“But, what matters is how you respond, and we’ve responded the Australian way, thanks to the hard work of Australians, including the people in this room.
The Prime Minister said inflation was down, wages were up, and that Labor had created jobs while interest rates continued to fall.
“What this election is about, though, is what happens next, whether we continue to build on those foundations,” Mr Albanese said.
“You can’t control everything that happens, and we know in the world, it’s uncertain, but I’m absolutely certain of this, now is not the time to cut, now is not the time to look backwards.
“Now is the time to look forward and seize the opportunities and build Australia’s future.”
Mr Dutton’s opening remarks spoke about how Australians have had a “tough three years” under Labor, referencing the failed Voice referendum and the broken promise to reduce energy bills by $275.
“I think your stories tonight will reflect the realities and stories of millions of Australians, and it has been a tough year, a tough three years, in fact, for Australians,” he said.
He referenced some of the Coalition’s key policies, like the push to increase gas into the energy grid and the 25c cut to the fuel excise, stating it would “help families, it’ll help businesses, it’ll help pensioners, and it will help the economy”.
News that Mr Dutton’s father had suffered a heart attack shortly before the debate began was not mentioned by host Keiran Gilbert, Mr Dutton or Mr Albanese.
Albo, Dutton face off in first leader’s debate
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have taken to the stage in Western Sydney, in their first head to head of the election campaign.
The pair will answer questions from 100 undecided voters independently selected by Q&A Market Research at the Sky News Daily Telegraph People’s Forum.
The debate starts at 7.30pm and will be moderated by Sky News’ chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert.
Mr Gilbert said the event would be “high stakes” for both leaders, with neither knowing what questions await them.
“The beauty of the Sky News/The Daily Telegraph People’s Forum is that the power is in the hands of the people – it’s an entirely unscripted and unpredictable event for the two leaders to try and navigate,” he said.
Former minister Bronwyn Bishop and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor were seen entering the club from the main entrance, as well as former 2GB host Ray Hadley.
Mr Dutton has also arrived with his wife Kirilly, and his children, however they entered through the back.
On the Labor side, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton also came out to support Anthony Albanese.
Dutton’s father in serious condition after heart attack
Peter Dutton’s father, Bruce, has suffered a heart attack.
He has been taken to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.
Debate going ahead after Dutton’s dad rushed to hospital
The debate between appears to be going ahead, with the final preparations underway in Sydney’s west despite shocking news Mr Dutton’s father had suffered a medical episode just an hour before the Opposition Leader was due to take the stage.
Mr Dutton’s father, Bruce, reportedly suffered a medical emergency and was taken to a hospital in Queensland just before the first leader’s debate on Tuesday evening.
The debate is due to kick off at 7.30pm, and by all appearances was still going ahead, with punters, journalists, and politicians from both Labor and the Liberal Party pouring into the venue just after 7pm.
Hot topics heading into debate night
With the election campaign well and truly underway, voters should have a pretty good idea of the hot topics for the two leaders heading into the debate.
For Mr Albanese, there has barely been a press stop this campaign without the “green and gold” – Australia’s Medicare card.
The PM has flashed the card every other day, having pitched the election as a make or break moment for Medicare.
On Tuesday, he spruiked a $1bn pledge on mental health and in Brisbane, on the first day of the campaign, championed Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and bulk billing.
The Prime Minister has also hit out at Mr Dutton in recent days over his backflipping on work-from-home and plans to slash the public service.
For both leaders, cost of living as been front and centre.
Unlike the PM, who has highlighted his energy rebates, the Opposition Leader has barely made an appearance without a stop at the local fuel station.
Peter Dutton has vowed to halve the fuel excise, which the Coalition says will save the average Australian motorist approximately $720.
Then there’s the economy.
Mr Dutton claimed on Tuesday that Australia was heading towards a recession under the Labor government.
The PM, meanwhile, said his government was well positioned to weather these “uncertain times” – a refrain repeated again and again by both leaders.
Western Sydney a key region as election looms closer
Both Tuesday’s debate and next week’s debate, hosted by the ABC on April 16, will be held in Western Sydney, with the region shaping up as a make-or-break area in deciding Australia’s next Prime Minister.
About 10 per cent of Australia’s population live in the 14 electorates that make up Western Sydney.
Labor holds 10 of these electorates. The Liberal Party has just three – Banks, Lindsay and Mitchell, but is eyeing off several others, believing the cost of living crunch has made Labor vulnerable.
Daniel Andrews helping Prime Minister prepare
Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has been helping the Prime Minister prepare, posing as Peter Dutton as Mr Albanese rehearses.
The pair are long-time friends, and famously lived together in Canberra when Mr Andrews worked as a political staffer.
However, asked on Tuesday about the former Premier’s role, Mr Albanese dodged the question.
Mr Dutton capitalised on Mr Andrews’ controversial legacy in his own remarks, calling for the former Premier to come out of the shadows.
“I hope that Daniel Andrews is out publicly with the Prime Minister, if it’s good enough for him to tell the Prime Minister how he should run the debate and how he should run the economy and how good he did in Victoria,” the Liberal leader said.
It is not known who Mr Dutton has called on to act as Mr Albanese in his own preparations.
Originally published as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton face off in first leaders’ debate
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